"Quite insane, quite crazy," the Plymouth Agyle manager said when asked to explain how his side came to lose in five minutes a game they have been winning for more than 80 at Prenton Park on Saturday.

"I can't figure out how it went wrong," Sturrock continued.

"We did everything right for 87 minutes then conceded two own goals in five minutes of unreality.

"I have tried to get the players to think about how well they played for those 87 minutes but they are just sat in there staring at the dressing-room floor."

As comeback victories go, this one was as bizarre as they come.

Tranmere's equaliser three minutes from the end of normal time came from a left-wing cross by substitute Gareth Roberts that deceived Plymouth's young goalkeeper, Luke McCormick, so completely he ended up palming it into his own net.

Sturrock was sympathetic to his inexperienced 19-year-old. He said: "The wind made the ball drop suddenly and Luke thought he might not get to it. He tried to palm it over and palmed it in instead."

The official records are kind enough to show Roberts as the scorer.

The winner in the second minute of injury-time was even more a dog's breakfast. When Jason Price, another substitute, seized upon a fleeting opportunity on the right-hand side of the penalty area, his shot struck Lee Hodges, rebounded off Paul Wotton, hit Hodges again and bounced into the net.

Price is claiming the goal of course, although it has been officially credited to Wotton as an own goal.

The Prenton Park faithful roared their approval and some spectators who had been leaving the ground early thinking they had witnessed Tranmere's second home defeat of the season returned to their seats to cheer the sixth home win. Others shook their heads in acknowledgement of Tranmere's conspicuous good fortune.

Manger Ray Mathias argued afterwards that Tranmere deserved their luck and the victory.

They certainly deserved some reward for dogged persistence that never flagged through a wild and wet autumn afternoon. But this was hardly a victory won on creative merit. The goals came out of the blue, rather than as a consequence of a concerted final assault.

Tranmere simply kept chipping away at the rock of Plymouth's stubborn resistance and struck gold twice at the death.

Much of the contest had been unpromising for Tranmere because they found it so difficult to create clear-cut scoring opportunities against opponents who organised themselves with a holding operation in mind.

A week earlier Sturrock's team had held out for a goalless draw at Brentford. On Saturday they had a lead to protect from the fifth minute when Steve Adams struck a 15-yard volley sweetly into the bottom corner of the net from a flick on by Mickey Evans.

The visitors might even have taken a two-goal lead five minutes later, when Tranmere goalkeeper John Achterberg had to make a sharp, sprawling save from a low shot by Marino Keith. And two minutes before the interval, Achterberg made another valuable save with his legs from David Norris.

But after the break Plymouth's counter-attacking threat all but dried up as they packed players into the midfield and defence.

The conditions did not encourage creative football. Steady rainfall for most of the day left surface water on the pitch and the ball either skidded or halted on the greasy surface.

Players found it particularly difficult to check their momentum in tackles and challenges and several skidded noisily into the advertising hoardings around the perimeter of the pitch. Happily, none of them were hurt.

Tranmere had plenty of forward power. Loan signing Adam Proudlock combined promisingly with the returning Simon Haworth and there was no lack of effort throughout the side.

But they were frequently let down by a disappointing final ball or fell into the jaws of Plymouth's well sprung offside trap.

Tranmere's best first-half chance fell to midfielder Gary Jones, who could not keep his header down after being left unmarked at the far post to meet Mickey Mellon's right wing corner.

For all their pressure in the second half, Tranmere could create nothing so clear-cut.

Many attacks foundered around the edge of the Plymouth box.

The introduction of substitutes Price and Iain Hume added an element of the unpredictable to Tranmere's armoury, and Roberts' belated arrival brought fresh legs to the left flank.

Even so, no-one could have foreseen the finale. Quite crazy? You bet it was.